Broken Hands
by SuperNova23
Summary: #ProjectShadowStory(SuperNova23) If the hands are broken, is the clock really moving forward at all?
1. Broken Hands

I looked around, a dazzling garden around me. I climbed to my feet and walked over to the flowers. They were sparkling, and as I reached out to touch it I noticed they were covered by something clear and hard.

**"Crystal. Isn't it beautiful?" **A voice asked. Whirling my head, I saw a figure wearing a hooded cloak. _"_**These flowers are perfect. And that's how they'll stay."**

There was nothing I could think to say except one thing. "Why? Why are they like this?"

The figure laughed. "**I like them like this. I let them grow until they're perfect, then I trap them in crystal so they can't change."**

Before I could come up with a response, he continued. "**After all, you live your life in stasis, don't you? You can't stand change!"**

This got an instant response out of my mouth. "What are you talking about? I'm totally alright with change!"

The figure laughed, pushing his head back. **"Don't lie to yourself!" **What was under the hood was a head of thick blond hair, and pasty skin. Perched delicately upon its nose was a pair of glasses with a thin brown frame and blue arms. A perfect copy of my own face, save for the yellow, catlike eyes.

**"You don't want to wear contacts because it'll be too much of a change! You don't want to drive because it'll ruin the delicate little balance you have set up! You don't make friends because new people bring chaos to your worthless excuse of a life!" **

Tears sting my eyes as I shout back, "No! I have lots of friends now! And I'm going to make more-"

**"When I go to collage." **The fake finishes, cutting me off. **"They talk to you out of pity now, because you're too inflexible and insufferable to have real friends. And when you go away to collage, you're going to find out that the real world has no place to pity someone like you. Someone who refuses to improve!"**

I look straight at it, but I can't. It's always in the edge of my vision. I turn to look t it, it moves so it's never in my direct focus. It always hung on my peripheral vision, which was especially unnerving.

I heard the door behind us open. In through came two boys and two girls. The first boy had a silver bowl-cut and held a longsword in his hands. The second boy had slicked blond hair and held a metal plate. The first girl had black hair and a red cardigan. She held fans in her hands and the second girl had brown hair and held a parasol in her hands.

The fake kept talking as if they weren't there. **"You can't survive in the fast-paced world of today. You'll be left behind in the dust. Just give it up now." **

As the false copy had been talking, at the corner of my mind an old hymn crept in. One I had sang a few times when I went to Church with my Grandmother. I could only remember the first line:

_Eternal, Unchanging, we sing to thy praise_

It was about God, who was perfect, and had no need to change.

I am human, and so I need to change. I need to adapt to survive. "Shut up! I can change anytime!"

The copy chuckled. **"No you can't. You're a dead end. There's no where for you to go. You can't move forward, and you can't move back!"**

I was not going to take any ore of this. "What gives you the right to think you know how I feel!?"

I have that arrogant little smirk that was just like mine when I knew I was right about something. **"Because I am you, of course."**

"That's a load of bull if I've ever heard one!" I think I heard some say something, but it didn't matter. "You're not me!"

The fake me roared with laughter. "**Yes! Say it again! Give me more!"**

"You're not me! You'll never be me!"

Everything fades to black, and the only sound in my ears is that horrible, mocking laughter, endlessly repeating.

* * *

**A long time ago, a friend had me take a personality quiz. I was the Death. All the research I could find gave no Reversed Death, but said that it was the transformation, or death of one thing and rebirth of another. So I took that to mean the Reversed Death is stagnation and decay. **

**As much as I hate to admit it, that describes me perfectly...**


	2. Like Clockwork

The four Persona-users lined up to fight the Shadow. **"I am a Shadow; the true self. There's no need to change anything in Paradise!"**

The Shadow, transformed was a child in a chair, with a much larger figure in front of it. It was twice the size of a normal person, and built like a football linebacker. The child waved its hand firing out a wave of ice.

This attack caught them all off-guard, but only Yukiko was knocked down. The other three quickly brought out their Personas.

"Izanagi!"

"Jiraiya!"

"Kushinada!"

The three charged forward, Izanagi swinging his weapon while the other two released tornadoes of wind, combining into one super-charged attack, but the large Shadow was already crouching with it's arms crossed, guarding the child. "Damnit We can't get through that!" Yosuke said, gritting his teeth.

The Shadow then stood up, grabbed Izanagi and threw it into the ground, causing Yu to stagger back. Yukiko was back up and ready to heal. "I art thou… There!" Her Persona, Konohana-Sakuya, came out of the sea of her soul and began to bathe them in a healing light.

Yosuke ran forward and slashed with his knives, causing the larger to stagger back. Elisabeth saw this and shattered her card using the point on her parasol. "Garula!" The windstorm slipped under the guard of the larger Shadow and hit the child, doing a fair amount of damage from what they could see."

"**It looks like you don't understand! I'll be happy to show you!" **The child waved its hand once more, before a wave of fire exploded across them. Yosuke was knocked back and Elisabeth was knocked down, but Yukiko was fine, and so was Yu, having switched to Pyro Jack.

A red and blue bear, the team's support, Teddie, looked panicked. "Ellie-chan's down! Quick, heal her!"

Yu switched again, this time to Leanan Sidhe, "Medirama!" As the team was healed, they noticed the large Shadow was guarding. Yosuke and Yukiko were going to attack, but Yu held up his hand. "No, wait for a second."

The Shadow guarded the child side for a few more seconds before charging forward and trying to punch Yu. "Ara Mitama!" He softened the blow, but didn't block it, and the force dropped him to a knee. But he had drawn out the larger Shadow, and so the other three fired off their attacks at the child.

"Power Slash!"

"Maragoin!"

"Magarula!"

The three attacks impacted the child who screamed in rage and pain. **"That's not how this works! I always win in my Wonderland!"**

This time, when he threw his hand out, a collection on bright white energy collected in his hands. "Is that-" Yukiko began.

"Hit the deck!" Cried Yosuke as he pulled Elisabeth down and Yu pulled Yukiko away. The attack exploded outward, hurting them all, but a little less than if they had stayed standing to take it head on. As they climbed to their feet, they saw the large Shadow guarding the child Shadow.

"Why is he guarding?" Elisabeth tentatively asked as she and Yukiko spread healing magic over the whole party.

Yu grinned. "He can't change! He's picked his pattern and won't divert from it. Get ready to guard, next is a physical attack, then some breathing room before the next spell."

They all guarded as the Shadow pounded the ground; releasing a Heat Wave across the whole party. As soon as it dissipated, they began to whale on the child Shadow. Now that they had the trick down, they knew exactly what to do. They healed up while it guarded, attacked after it attacked them, and tried to avoid all the spells that were thrown toward them.

As they struck their finishing blows, the Shadow cried out, **"I can't leave! I'm not strong enough to face the outside world!" **

It was then that the blonde boy in glasses sat up. He had been drifting in and out of consciousness throughout the fight. He was awake to hear their strategy. If they could figure him out, he should be able to as well.

But sometimes yourself is the hardest person to read.

* * *

**My friend Elisabeth is the fourth party member because she already faced her Shadow in her story. Her pen name is Miss Hanamura. And if Persona was real, I know she'd be there to help me in a heartbeat. **


	3. Gears in Motion

I climb to my feet slowly, still feeling drained. I look at the Shadow, which was now a copy of me once more. I try to take a few steps forward, but the two boys catch my arms and support me as I slowly walk over to my Shadow. "This isn't a-"

"Relax." The boy with brown hair says. "We've all gone through with this. Take a few seconds, but one way or another, you're going to have to face yourself."

I slip my arms off their shoulders. I can't do this alone, but having their support is enough. I hesitantly take the few steps forward to my copy.

"I've always hated change. I don't want to grow up because I feel I'm not ready for responsibility. I also have trouble connecting with people and when I become familiar with them, I don't want them to all leave me. I'm scared of starting over, and change always makes that happen.

"But I always have people to help me through that. I've got friends who will stand by me regardless. I've got my family. And I've got," I wave my hands behind me to the four people and the bear behind me, " Them to help me. With them beside me, I think I can handle moving ahead."

My shadow smiles and disappears. I hear a child giggling. Most striking is that it's a girl child. I used to have a really high voice and sing soprano when I was a kid, but this is pushing it.

The voice reminds me of when I was little and a blonde girl in a blue dress appears in front of me. _"I am thou… Thou art I…"_ The voice sounds like it belongs to a girl, but somehow, I hear my own voice inside it. The two tones should sound jarring against each other, but they sound surprisingly pleasing and calming to listen to. _"The strength of heart required to face oneself has been made manifest… You have obtained the façade the façade to overcome life's hardships. I am your Persona, Alice."_

The girl disappears and turns into a tarot card. It falls gently into my hand, and it has a picture of Alice in profile. Below her, it had the Roman numeral XIII. Thirteen. The Death.

The card disappears and I feel different. I never felt like something was missing from me until just now when it was filled. I can still be a child as I move on in life. As long as I can handle the changes and responsibilities I have, I an still hang on to that one part of myself.

Alice went down the rabbit hole to Wonderland and through the Looking Glass. Her stories are all fantastic adventures that children believe in. Boy or girl, it doesn't matter, you still have your fantasy and you don't have to let it go.

The others look ready to leave and I'm exhausted. Even standing is an effort so the silver-haired boy grabs my arm, but this time, on the other side, is the brunette with the parasol. "We've got you Adam-kun." She says softly.

I see the bear waddle over to me with a pair of glasses in his hand, Only then do I notice that my own pair are missing. I can see without them, but they're comforting to have and fix my near-sightedness. "Are those my glasses?" I ask him.

He nods. "Don't worry Adam. These are Teddie Glasses Mk II. They'll help you see, and they're ground to your normal glasses so you can see anyway." I slide them onto my face and the fog surrounding me is gone. The two supporting me - Yu and Elisabeth - walk me out while the other two -Yosuke and Yukiko - follow close behind.

My worse fears have come to pass. Radical changes. But I've survived through them in the past. And with the love and support of everyone around me, I can survive them in the future.


End file.
